Takeaways from disappointing Cardinals series against the Reds

Things didn’t go well for the St. Louis Cardinals in Cincinnati this weekend. The Reds took two of three from the Cardinals to start the second half of the season.

The Cardinals got a poor start to their second half this weekend, and things got worse from there. The Cardinals lost 9-5 on Friday. The Cardinals won on Saturday 6-3. The Cardinals lost 6-3 on Sunday.

The Cardinals will take off for Toronto for a two-game set against the Blue Jays. The team will unfortunately be without two of their best players in Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. The two and plus Austin Romine will not be traveling to Canada due to their vaccination status which prevents them from entering the country.

This is a particularly disappointing development as Goldschmidt has been their best hitter of late and Arenado has brought it with his hitting and tremendous defense. Arenado has preached about doing whatever it takes to win but would not get the vaccine. It is their choice to do what they feel is best for them. Being out for two games, though, is not best for the team.

Just incredibly disappointing.

They rejoin the team for their series with the Nationals in  Washington D.C.

Now let’s take a look at some of the takeaways from this weekend’s series in Cincinnati.

The Cardinals lose Friday 9-5.

Friday’s game was not the best way to come back from the All-Star break.

Adam Wainwright is now 6-8 on the season after another instance of not performing well at Great American Ballpark. He pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five hits, three walks, and seven earned runs, including two home runs to Donovan Solano and Joey Votto.

He did strike out two batters and induced six swings and misses.

Jordan Hicks finished the sixth inning for Wainwright, giving up one hit and one earned run. He did strike out one batter and hit a max velocity of 101.3. Johan Oviedo pitched one inning, giving up a hit and an earned run, a homer to Jonathan India.

Zack Thompson pitched the final inning, giving up a walk but striking out one batter.

Tyler O’Neill gave the Cardinals a good start in the second inning as he singled to right field, scoring Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar. Speaking of Tyler O’Neill:

It’s really great having him back in left field.

In the fifth inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit his 21st home run of the season on a fly-to-left field scoring O’Neill. The homer traveled 398 feet at 108.6 mph.

In the eighth inning, Tommy Edman singled to center field, scoring Dylan Carlson. Manager Oli Marmol was ejected this inning by home play umpire Ryan Additon. Marmol used choice words to question Additon’s strike zone during the game. Marmol was fired up.

What really ended up keeping the Cardinals from victory was a lack of moving teammates along the base path. Cardinal batters struck out 14 times on Friday. They were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. So frustrating.

The Cardinals lost 6-3 on Sunday

Miles Mikolas earned his eighth loss of the season after working five innings, giving up seven hits, two walks, and six earned runs including a home run to Joey Votto. Packy Naughton pitched 1.1 innings, giving up one walk while striking out one. James Naile pitched two-thirds of an inning. Zack Thompson pitched one inning, striking out one.

Paul Goldschmidt kicked off the scoring in the fourth inning for the Cardinals. He knocked his 23 home run on a fly to center field, scoring Tyler O’Neill. Goldschmidt knocked his 24th home run of the season on a fly to right-center field.

Goldschmidt providing the only run support Sunday makes it even more disappointing that he will not be with the club in Toronto. Here’s hoping we see the rest of the lineup step up and take advantage of their opportunity to shine. Andre Pallante and Adam Wainwright will need all the run support that can be managed.